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Is OKC Thunder too young to win in NBA playoffs? Here's what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander says
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- Is OKC Thunder too young to win in NBA playoffs? Here's what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander says
Somehow, the narrative leaked into the airtight windows that seal off the Thunder facilities. The doors opened by four-digit codes, the walls lined with invisible but sturdy soundproof material specifically designed to drown out anything that sounds like it.
But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander admittedly heard it. Recently and for most of his season, really. Skeptics are calling this Thunder team the least equipped No. 1 seed ever. Not enough experience, a regular season anomaly.
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And when the idea was brought to his attention, SGA nipped it in the bud with a boyish grin.
"Too young, right?" Gilgeous-Alexander asked Wednesday afternoon. "I've heard that all year. It's not gonna change. We're still young. We'll probably be young for another four or five years. We don't worry about it. We focus on what goes on in these four walls."
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , Thunder 'one step closer' to goal
For Gilgeous-Alexander to hear it, it had to have been spewed in bunches. Among a chronically online team, he seemingly remains one of the furthest removed from the vitriol of the World Wide Web.
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Before promoting a recent ad alongside Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren , the stale-faced star hadn't tweeted in nearly two years. His scarce appearances come when it's time to get his bars off in Instagram captions or one of his dozens of endorsements, the only times he's removed from a consistent life and proverbial cave.
These things build up, though. The words, the opinions, the narratives. They accumulate over time. Gilgeous-Alexander noted earlier in the season that, six years in, he just wants to start winning. He was 21 and without the mantle the last time he played in a playoff series. Now he'll have his chance as the guy .
He knows what this opportunity means. For the discourse, for those gas leak narratives. Age certainly won't change those anytime soon.
"I'm excited," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Just solely for the fact that we're one step closer to our goal, which is winning a championship. We have to make the playoffs before you get there, then you have to win four series. Not only myself, but seeing where us as an organization stands in a playoff series against whoever it may be, and seeing how good we really are."
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Entering a postseason pinned inside a historic Western Conference will force this Thunder team to grow up fast. It already has. It's forced the players to mostly carry themselves differently. To be themselves but to mature in equal doses. To demonstrate they belong, with wins mostly being the currency that people will accept. None of it has stripped them of the youthful energy that got them here. After a few days off, coach Mark Daigneault said Wednesday's practice had "first day of school energy."
Gilgeous-Alexander frames it like an elder statesmen, mostly because he understands that the Thunder isn't outrunning its age. A 39-year-old head coach, a group of players mostly composed of guys barely in their 20s.
The perspective remains, though. Gilgeous-Alexander has been injected with it since his arrival all those years ago. Holmgren and Josh Giddey began speaking in Thunder code not long after their arrivals.
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Daigneault has digested from any previous staff and members of the organization what it takes between playoff games to survive. Sam Presti took the chance recently to give the players a fan point of view, showing them what it takes for them to get to games.
"When you're in the bowels of the arena, you show up, you park your car, you walk 10 feet to the door," Daigneault said. "Everything unfolds for you. For the guys, their pictures (are) getting taken, everything revolves around them, but there's people that are driving from every direction, they're leaving work early. They're paying to park, they're walking from parking."
There's seemingly less of a lack of awareness with this young core than most. And yes, they're still kids. They all spent Tuesday's slate of play-in games enjoying each other's company at Holmgren's house. They invade each other's post game interviews with barking and ad-libs.
Just don't remind them of their age. It's nearly worthless. They've already heard it all.
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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and forward Jalen Williams (8) sit during introductions before an NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Sacramento Kings at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Oklahoma City won 112-105.
First-round schedule
The Thunder will face either the Kings or Pelicans in the first round of the NBA playoffs:
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Game 1:8:30 p.m. Sunday in OKC (TNT)
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Game 2:8:30 p.m. Wednesday in OKC (TNT)
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Game 3:2:30 p.m. Saturday in SAC/NO (TNT)
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Game 4:TBD Monday, April 29, in SAC/NO
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*-Game 5:TBD Wednesday, May 1, in OKC
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*-Game 6:TBD Friday, May 3, in SAC/NO
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*-Game 7:TBD Sunday, May 5, in OKC
*-if necessary
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Is OKC Thunder too young to win in NBA playoffs as No. 1 seed in West?
